May 2010

5 months of 2010 gone already - wow!

May was full of endings and beginnings...

I attended my first bookclub in a couple of years. I am so glad it is up and running again. I really missed it. It was also our first bookclub since the loss of one of our members to breast cancer - last October - which made it bittersweet. Kelly was definitely missed! We read The Art of Racing in the Rain - which I really enjoyed.

We had the family over on May 2 to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary and an early Mother's Day. Aunt Faye was in town and joined us.



On May 7, Slate Christian Holtsclaw was born to Charice and Mark in a home, water birth.

On May 8, Mom, Vanessa, Aunt Karyn and I attended 2 graduation parties. First cousin Cory's. He received his Masters from UMKC. Then we drove up to Kearney for cousin Jeannie and her daughter Jodi's combined grad party. Jeannie received her Master of Science in Nursing for Informatics and Jodi received her Pharmacy tech certificate. I have some very smart cousins! I think this makes at least 4 of my cousins who now have Masters degrees.

Mother's Day was quiet. Brad and boys cooked dinner for me - and cleaned up afterward! They also gave me a rose bush and Alec made me a flower pot at school in which he planted a purple petunia.

The Monday after Mother's Day - Mom and I went to Charice and Mark's to take pictures of baby Slate. Newborn photo sessions are fun!


May 14 was Track and Field Day at Daniel Young. I worked the obstacle course. Thank goodness that weather was very nice that day. However, the previous weeks' of rain made the field very muddy!

On May 15 there was a Douthat family party at Mom and Dad's to celebrate Vanessa's 50th and Aunt Karyn's 70th birthdays.



May 18 was our Cub Scout Pack graduation. Alec is now a 2nd year Webelo. Only one more year until Boy Scouts.

May 19 was Vanessa's actual birthday. She and I, along with Mom and Dad, attended the New Theatre Restaurant matinee performance of Becky's New Car. We sat in Row 1 Table 1. It was quite enjoyable. There was a little bit of audience participation - so Mom and Dad both got to be a small part of the show.

And last but not least - on May 23 - Jake graduated from high school!


May ended up being a pretty busy month. June is starting out to be very un-busy. School's out now, cub scouts is over for the summer, no camps, no sports, etc. What are we going to do with ourselves!

April 2010

I am a bit behind this month. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Brad and I celebrated 16 years of marriage on April 2. The night of our anniversary - we went to dinner at Islamorada Fish Co. (inside Bass Pro). I wouldn't call it romantic - since Jason went with us - but it was nice. Alec spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Not because it was our anniversary - but just because he wanted to - and he didn't want Jason to too. :)


On April 3 - we celebrated my birthday and Easter at Mom and Dad's house. No matter how old the kids get - they still want to hunt Easter eggs.




Jason turned 15 on April 9. He didn't really want to do anything special - so we just went to dinner at Smokehouse BBQ. I can't believe my little boy is old enough to get his driving learner's permit. He hasn't gotten it yet - but we will soon. We had his birthday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's on April 11.

baby Jason

15 year old Jason

On April 17 - the Webelo scouts helped build planters for St. Mary's Manor residents.




On April 25 - I spent all day taking pictures. Cousin Charice's maternity pictures first, then cousin Lisa's maternity pictures and then I finished out the day with pictures for Jake's American Legion baseball team. It was a busy day - but fun!


On April 28 - my mom and dad celebrated 54 years of marriage - WOW!


Other celebrations in April:
Brad's nephew Ryne turned 16 on April 6 and sister Tami had a birthday on April 8.

March 2010

Happy April Fool's Day! Alec must have forgotten it was April Fool's this morning or I am sure he would have tried to 'get' me. I didn't see Jason this morning since Brad takes him to school on Thursdays. I am sure they will both pull some trick later on today.

Well let me think..... What happened in March....
I spent most of the first week recovering from our Vegas trip :) In addition to the blisters on my feet - I caught a BAD cold - or virus. I was miserable all week.
Alec's 4th grade class went to Jefferson City on the 3rd to tour the capitol. I was supposed to go with them but just couldn't do it. They had a very long day. They met at Daniel Young at 6:00am and returned around 6:00pm.
By Saturday the 6th I was feeling better, thank goodness, because I had plans to meet my cousin Lisa for lunch. We met in Liberty at 54th Street and had a very nice lunch and visit. It had been much too long since I had seen her.
March 8-12 was Spring Break for the boys. We didn't go anywhere but they enjoyed the week at home just goofing off.
I was supposed to have jury duty on the 9th but when I called the info line my service had been canceled. They said they would not call me again for at least 3 years. I don't really mind jury duty - but since it was during the boys spring break and it was in downtown KC - I was glad I did not have to go.
On the 13th, Mom, Nan and I had a girl's day out. We went to Zona Rosa for lunch and shopping. We really should do that more often. It was fun. However, Alec kept calling and rushing us because he was supposed to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa and he wanted her to come home. We'll have to make sure and not plan it that way again.
On the 20th, Alec was in the Eastern Jackson County Spelling Bee. There we 83 kids from grades 3-8. He was very nervous and unfortunately got out in the first round - but it is just very cool that he made it all the way to the county bee.
Also on the 20th - the first day of Spring - we had a surprise snow storm. It had been 70 degrees just a few days before and then on Friday night the temp dropped below freezing and we got 9 or so inches of snow over the weekend. It was crazy. At least it melted pretty quickly and was warm again by mid week. Hopefully that will be the last snow of the season.
On the 27th, I went out with Carla and Jennifer. They took me to lunch at Olive Garden for my birthday. Then we went shopping at Independence Center and then to the movie "Bounty Hunter".
On the 28th I attended my cousin Charice's baby shower. It was a nice shower and it was great to see family that I hadn't seen for awhile. She is due on May 25th and his having a home, water birth. This is her first baby and they are having a boy.
Birthdays in March:
Taryn turned 25 on March 15th
Charles turned 74 on March 22nd
and I turned ?? on March 30th!

February 2010

Alec turned 10 on February 7. He wanted to go snowboarding for his birthday - so he, I, Brad and Jason went to Snow Creek on Saturday the 6th. Jay and Al snowboarded (including 1 hour of lessons), Brad skied and I took pictures. On the way home we stopped for his birthday dinner at 54th Street. It was a good day.


On Sunday we had a family party at Grandpa and Grandma's


On Feb 13 we went to our first Maverick's Hockey game at the Independence Events Center. It was scout night so several from our Cub Scout Pack were also there. It was a good time.


Sun, Feb 21 through Fri, Feb 26 - Brad and I went to Las Vegas. My parents stayed with the boys while we were gone. I have such wonderful parents!
It was snowing and icing on Sunday so we were afraid our flight might be cancelled - but luckily it wasn't. It was delayed about 1 hour and had to be de-iced - but we made it safely.

It was 60s and sunny most of the time in Vegas. It was great!
We stayed at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. It was nice - but a bit pricey and too far away from everything. We probably won't stay there again.
Here are a few things we did:
Walked
Gambled
Walked
Ate
Walked
Shopped
Walked
Visited the Conservatory at Bellagio
Walked
Went downtown to the Freemont Street Experience

Road the bus
Walked
Went to the Outlet Mall
Walked
etc etc
One day I went to lunch with an old friend that now lives in Vegas. She picked me up and we drove down the strip to the Peppermill for lunch. It was nice to see her and catch-up.

My feet did not fair well with all the walking. One of my blisters got infected and was very painful. Had to go to urgent care on Saturday for antibiotics. Coming home Friday was not fun with a very sore foot. It was a LONG day! We did not get home until after midnight.

But anyway - we had a good time. We won't go for that long again. 3-4 days is our max. It will probably be awhile before we go back. Maybe our next trip will be somewhere tropical and relaxing.


That's about it for February. Blue and Gold banquet was Saturday night and Sunday we just stayed home. Today back to reality.

January 2010

Hard to believe 1 month of 2010 is already come and gone. We had a somewhat busy month.

Hunter, Autumn, Taryn, Brady and their 3 dogs came to visit from Dec 30-Jan 3.



Due to snow and extremely cold temperatures - school did not resume until Jan 11. It was supposed to start again on Jan 5. The boys enjoyed their extra week off.



On Jan 26 - Brad turned 50! We had a party for him on Jan 23. Taryn and Hunter came down from South Dakota for the weekend to help him celebrate.



Alec was in the Blue Springs School District Spelling Bee on Jan 26. He won his school wide spelling bee in December which made him eligible for the District Bee as well as the Eastern Jackson County Bee which will be held in March. He made it through the 3rd round. We are very proud of him. Our friend from Cub Scouts -Lane Vermillion was also in the Bee and won the whole thing. Way to go Lane!


This last weekend was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Alec did not want to do much in the way of building a car. We ended up covering the block of wood with silver shelf paper and putting on the wheels. No cutting, sanding, shaping or painting. No extra weights. Basically a 4.9oz block of wood with wheels. The sad part about all that? - He won 1st place out of 9 in his den!



Other events in January:
Jill turned 16 on Jan 7

Jacob turned 18 on Jan 14


and last but not least - our friends the Schoenbergers welcomed a new baby boy on Jan 28
Cruz Gavin Lee

So Long 2009....

Happy New Year
From our family to yours!
Here’s what’s going on with our family……

Alec will be 10 in February and is in 4th grade. He is working on his Webelo badge in scouts and recently won his school-wide spelling bee. He is now entered in the Blue Springs District and Eastern Jackson County bees.

Jason is 14 and in 9th grade at the Blue Springs Freshman Center. His grades are great and he is adjusting to high school life. He has recently started ice skating at the new Independence Events Center and seems to really enjoy it – except for the blisters :)

Hunter graduated from Beresford High School in May and just finished his first semester of college at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He lives in the dorms and is majoring in Business.

Taryn, Brady and their 3 dogs are well and living in Sioux Falls, SD. Taryn has also gone back to school and works at Wells Fargo and Target. She is a busy, busy girl!

Michael has had quite a year and is working on turning his life around. He lived with us from February to July but is now back in South Dakota. He is also going to school, working at Applebee’s and his band (Empty Without Reason) is making a CD. Autumn is in second grade and lives with her mom in Beresford. She came and stayed with us for 6 weeks this summer.

Brad is doing well and is in his 21st year at DST. He quit playing World of Warcraft and is searching for a new hobby.

As for me, I have taken a couple of Photography classes at UCM in Warrensburg and have learned a lot. I also discovered there is much more to learn. I plan on continuing my quest for photo knowledge in 2010 – but will probably do more self-study than college courses. I found a name for my business – It’s All About the Image – now I just need to decide what type of photography I want to concentrate on and start building a business.

We went on one family trip this year. In August we met Brad’s parents and his sister Tami’s family in Gulf Shores, AL. We all stayed in a condo on the beach. We had a wonderful time!

All in all it has been a good year. Wishing the best to all of you in 2010.

Christmas 2009

Kansas City had it's first white Christmas in many years - and it was a doozy. There were blizzard conditions on Christmas Eve night. Normally we spend Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's and then they come to our house on Christmas Day. Due to the weather - we did things a little differently. Everyone (see picture) came to our house on Christmas Eve for our traditional chili, eats, sweets and Trivial Pursuit.




Mom, Dad and Vanessa spent the night with us and were here for Christmas morning. It was great to have them here on Christmas morning and they didn't have to get out in the blizzard. (well me and Dad did for a little while - but that's another story). Anyway, Trent and family went home around 10:00pm since they were going to the Wilson's on Christmas Day. They arrived safe and sound after dropping off Jill's boyfriend Josh and then picking up Jake's friend Tim. Mom, Dad and Nan stayed until around 4:00 on Christmas Day. The roads probably weren't much better than they were the night before - but at least it was daylight and had stopped snowing. It was quite an ordeal to dig their cars out of our driveway. Brad and the boys helped. I mostly stood in the garage doorway and yelled "watch out!", "stop!" and "be careful!" to everyone. :)


All in all - I really enjoyed our Christmas this year.
I guess we aren't quite done yet. Taryn, Brady, Hunter and Autumn will be here in a couple days for their Christmas visit with us. Looking forward to seeing them!

what's been going on since last I posted....

Ryne, Seth, Alec and Jason with their Great Grandmother - Thanksgiving 2009

Nov 7 - My poor baby Alec had strep throat for the first time in his 9 years of life.
Nov 9 - my mother-in-law had a birthday - Happy Birthday Maxine!
Nov 15 - I attended a baby shower for my friend Crystal. I am so happy for her. She has wanted another baby for quite awhile and her dream finally came true (with a little help from medical science).
Nov 21 - We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family at Mom and Dad's. It was great fun and the food was all very yummy!
Nov 24 - We drove 11 hours to Pineville, LA to spend Thanksgiving with Brad's family.
Nov 25-28 - We enjoyed the nice Fall weather in Louisiana and of course we greatly enjoyed spending time with Maxine, Charles, Mammaw Willis, Tami, Shawn, Ryne and Seth. The boys spent most of every day outside just being boys.
The night of Nov 28 - we drove the 11 1/2 hours back. It took a bit longer going home since we went through Little Rock - but it felt much safer driving on the Interstate instead of those curvy, narrow, 2-lane roads in western Arkansas. However, both coming and going we made better time than ever before because we traveled at night. The boys slept most of the time and we rarely stopped. In the past, the same trip has taken up to 13 hours.
Nov 30 - back to our normal routine and back to school for the boys
Dec 1 - Alec's 4th grade class performed Christmas songs at the Blue Springs Mayor's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It was a fun time and the first taste of the Christmas season - old favorite Christmas songs, lights, decorations, Santa hats, red & green, chilly temperatures, hot chocolate and Santa himself.
Dec 3 - Brad's oldest son - Michael - turned 27. Happy Birthday Michael! You have made great strides in 2009. Keep it up!
Also on Dec 3 - I turned in my final portfolio for my Nature and Scenic Class. If you are interested - you can find it here. I think that will be my last class for awhile. Not that I have learned everything I need to know - I just am going to find other ways to learn more. Maybe take an online class, self study Photoshop and maybe even try to find a job with an experienced photographer. I also plan to keep taking pictures and more pictures and working to build my own business - It's All About the Image.

So that brings us up to today.... This afternoon, Alec and I are going caroling with the cub scouts at an Alzheimer's care center in Independence. Then tonight I am meeting 7 wonderful ladies for dinner at Carmen's Cafe. This will the first time our book club has gotten together in couple of years. There should be another truly wonderful friend with us tonight but breast cancer took her life much too early - at the young age of 44 - 7 weeks ago today. We are meeting tonight in her honor. I truly believe that she will be with us tonight in spirit.

My handsome nephew Jake's Senior pics

Click here to see all of them at Flickr

53 years!

53 years - that's how long my in-laws have been married today and how long my parents were married in April. Wow! Brad and I have a lot to live up to :0). Of course we will be much older than our parents by the time we are married 53 years.
Kudos to our parents for sticking together through sickness and health, richer or poorer and more!

Here are some pictures from Halloween:

the cul-de-sac kids


my family


my mother!


Sabrina, Shayna and Rachel